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Climate-2006 / Oct / U.S. Drought / Help
Climate of 2006 - October U.S. Drought Watch National Climatic Data Center, 15 November 2006
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Global Analysis /
Global Hazards /
United States /
Extremes
Use these links to access detailed analyses of Global and U.S. data.
Contents Of This Report:
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National Overview
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- Based on the Palmer Drought Index,
severe to extreme drought affected about 10 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of October 2006, a decrease of about 4 percent compared to last month.
By contrast, about 12 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the severely to extremely wet categories.
- About 22 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the
moderate to extreme drought categories (based on the Palmer Drought Index) at the end of October.
- On a broad scale, the previous two decades (1980s and 1990s) were characterized by unusual wetness with short periods of extensive droughts, whereas the 1930s and 1950s were characterized by prolonged periods of extensive droughts with little wetness (
moderate to extreme drought,
severe to extreme drought).
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- A file containing the national monthly percent area severely dry and wet from 1900 to present is available for the severe to extreme and moderate to extreme categories.
- Historical temperature, precipitation, and Palmer drought data from 1895 to present for climate divisions, states, and regions in the contiguous U.S. are available at the Climate Division: Temperature-Precipitation-Drought Data page in files having names that start with "drd964x" and ending with "txt" (without the quotes).
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Detailed Drought Discussion
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By the end of October, drought was concentrated in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Texas, Oklahoma and in northeastern Minnesota. Conditions had improved in the Southeast from eastern Texas through Mississippi (October 31 Drought Monitor). In the drought areas, soil moisture was low, evaporation was high, vegetative health was fair to poor, and streamflow was low.
The U.S. Small Business Administration announced that federal disaster loans were available to small, non-farm, agriculture-dependent businesses located in 204 Texas counties. These disaster loans are intended to offset economic losses because of reduced revenue to farmers and ranchers caused by severe drought conditions, above normal temperatures and wildfires. The U.S. Department of Agriculture designated 12 Texas counties agricultural disaster areas, due to losses sustained from continuing drought conditions. In South Dakota the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has shortened this year's barge navigation season along portions of the Missouri River by 44 days because of sustained drought conditions and associated low water flows. All counties in Wyoming and most in Missouri have been designated primary or contiguous natural disaster areas thereby allowing farmers and ranchers to apply for low interest loans from the Farm Service Agency. Impacts in drought-stricken areas have been collected and summarized by county at the National Drought Mitigation Center's Drought Impact Reporter.
The October precipitation pattern at the primary stations in Alaska was above average across the interior of the state; most of the coastal stations were below average. In Hawaii dryness continued throughout most the western half of the State. Except for the northwestern coast, Puerto Rico was predominantly dry (based on National Weather Service radar estimates of precipitation).
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Some regional highlights:
- Throughout the U.S., the month was wetter than in previous months, but some states experienced the tenth percentile of precipitation, or drier, multi-month seasons (August-October, May-October, November-October).
- Month-averaged and end-of-month soil moisture conditions, based on model computations (CPC-1, CPC-2, MRCC), were drier than average across the Plains, along the northwestern coast and in Florida.
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State/Regional/National Moisture Status
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Pre-Instrumental Perspective
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There is no October 2006 Paleoclimatic Perspective
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Drought Indicators
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The following indicators illustrate the drought conditions this month:
- Palmer Drought Indices,
- Standardized Precipitation Index,
- long-term (36 to 60 month) percent of normal precipitation maps,
- airport station percent of normal precipitation maps,
- statewide precipitation rank maps,
- Cooperative station percent of normal precipitation maps,
- percent of average maps for the SNOTEL stations in the western mountains provided by the Western Regional Climate Center
- satellite-based observations of vegetative health,
- National Weather Service model calculations of
- National Weather Service model calculations of soil moisture using the Leaky Bucket Model,
- Midwest Regional Climate Center model calculations of soil moisture,
- topsoil moisture conditions observed by the USDA and mapped by the Climate Prediction Center,
- pasture and range land conditions observed by the USDA and mapped by the Climate Prediction Center,
- streamflow maps maintained by the USGS.
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Additional Contacts:
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- For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:
Climate Services Division NOAA/National Climatic Data Center 151 Patton Avenue Asheville, NC 28801-5001 fax: 828-271-4876 phone: 828-271-4800 email: ncdc.info@noaa.gov
- For further information on the historical climate perspective presented in this report, contact:
Ned Guttman NOAA/National Climatic Data Center 151 Patton Avenue Asheville, NC 28801-5001 fax: 828-271-4328 email: Ned.Guttman@noaa.gov
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Richard Heim NOAA/National Climatic Data Center 151 Patton Avenue Asheville, NC 28801-5001 fax: 828-271-4328 email: Richard.Heim@noaa.gov
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Jay Lawrimore NOAA/National Climatic Data Center 151 Patton Avenue Asheville, NC 28801-5001 fax: 828-271-4328 email: Jay.Lawrimore@noaa.gov
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NCDC / Climate Mon. /
Climate-2006 / Oct / U.S. Drought / Help
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